


Wings of a Demon

by Enide_Dear



Series: Wings of a Demon [1]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: M/M, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 22:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7659940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enide_Dear/pseuds/Enide_Dear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt and Warren meet again for the first time since Apocalypse defeat. Things do not go well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Kurt and Warren meet again for the first time since Apocalypse defeat. Things do not go well, but at least Kurt has his friends to help him. Mentions of self hurt, because, well, it's Kurt.

So, has this been done yet in the Nightcrawler/Angel fandom?

Things had slowed down since their fight against Apocalypse, and people were finding their routines in Xavier’s institute for gifted children. Strong friendships had been formed in the last few weeks and continued to grow as the youngsters came closer to one Another and more ready to let their guards down. Amongst those groups of friends were Scott, Jubilation, Jean, Kurt and occationally Peter who, despite being a few years older found he had a lot in common with the teenagers. New students where still emitted occationally and it was one such student that currently held the attention of the group. 

“He’s hot, whoever he is.” Jubilee smiled and tried to glance at the newbie from the corner of her eyes withouth it being obvious that she was staring. 

“Oh yes,” Jean nodded at the boy who was still too far away to notice. The park was all but deserted; most students were at their classes and only the five of them had an hour of recess. “Even with that huge backpack on his back.”

“I don’t know,” trying to keep his jealousy in check, Scott frowned. “He looks kind of silly to me, all dressed in pink.”

“Everything looks pink to you!” Jean laughed and turned back to him which made Scott smile at the success of his little rouse to get the attention back to him. 

“I tink maybe I know him from somewhere?” Thoughtful, Kurt shifted his head from side to side like a curious cat. “He zeems a bit familiar.”

“Let’s just wave him over here and we can see for ourselves.” Never one for patience, Peter gave a sharp whistle and the young man turned towards them. “Hey, you! you new here? Come over!”

Slowly the newcomer started walkling towards them and then suddenly stopped at about the same time Jean drew her breath sharply and came to her feet.

“That’s not a student!” She pointed,but the newbie ignored her, staring at Kurt with an intensity that was frightening. “That’s Angel!”

*His name is Warren, and he is a student here now.* professor Xavier’s voice was all but lost in the sudden mayham; the group came to their feet even as Angel sped towards them. But his eyes were fixed on Kurt who backed away in sudden fright. 

”Hey, you!” Angel shouted, pointing at Nightcrawler, whose red eyes got huge with terror.

”No! Don’t hurt me!” The young mutant screamed before disappearing in an explosion of Sulphur. 

Snarling with rage Warren’s wings flashed out, metal shining almost painfully bright in the afternoon sun as he took off to the sky.

“Stop him!” Jean grabbed Peter’s arm. “Hurry, before he hurts Kurt!”

“Stop him how?” Peter shook his head, staring at the sky where Warren dived like a bird of prey, just to swoop back up and dive back again as he presumably spotted Nightcrawler appearing somewhere else. “I’m faster than him, but I can’t fly. As long as he’s up in the sky I can’t do anything.”

“Then get Kurt back here!”

“I can get to where he is now, but look at that guy –“ he waved at Angel – “searching for him. Little ‘crawler is gonna be teleporting away before he even arrived. And I have no idea of where he’ll be going next.”

“Jean, can you send a message to Kurt? Tell him to get back here, tell him we’ll protect him.” Nervously, Scott fiddled with his glasses but he couldn’t hit Warren without seriously hurting him, and the professor had said he was a student now.

Pressing her fingers to her temples, Jean focused, but shook her head. 

“I can’t. Every other second he’s not even in this dimension. It’s like trying to talk on a really static phone line. He’s too terrified to even notice me.”

“What’s he so afraid of?” Quicksilver shrugged. “I mean, he kicked this guy’s ass twice already, right? He can do it again.”

“That is what he is afraid of.” Jean stared at the flying mutant, rage swirling around him. “That he will have to fight again.”

Warren watched the desperate teleportation with forced patience; the little blue rat tried to flee but from up here it was easy to keep track of the swirling purple clouds. Whenever they showed signs of slowing down, he swooped, scaring the little rat to more panicking actions. He needed the other terrified and fleeing, spending all his energy without thought until finally he swooped down and there was no more teleporting. 

 

Drenched with sweat and trembling with exhaustion Kurt tried to bamf again as he saw the metal blades flashing towards him but he had no strength left. He ran, but he was far too slow. Screaming he was hoisted up in the air, arms and legs and tail flailing to fight off his assailant but Warren was far too strong and he was already exhausted. They tore up through the air with such force that Kurt had to close his eyes, far too high for him to teleport down safely, even if he’d had the strength. Somewhere far off he could hear Jean shouting in his head but he knew his friends where powerless to save him.

Warren’s eyes blazed with rage as he took a grip on Kurt’s neck and held him out over the void. 

“You and I have unfinished business,” he snarled, anger distorting his fine features to something ugly as the metal wings gusted air around them. “You *destroyed* me! With my wings I was something – a fighter, an angel, *beautiful*! – and with them ruined I was *nothing*! Ugly! Grounded! Nothing more than a freak! And you dared put me in a cage?! Grounding me again?! If I could I would tear your powers away from you to and force you to live like nothing more than an ugly, powerless freak as well! But I can’t do that.” He took a deep breath and the mad rage seemed to grow colder. “So I guess I will have to be satisfied with breaking every bone in your body and ripping your tail off.”

Kurt couldn’t answer, couldn’t explain or apologize, could barely even breath around the grip on his neck. His thick fingers tore uselessly at Warren’s fingers and he kicked equally uselessly at the muscled belly, his tail trying to squeeze around Angel’s leg like a snake. But the winged mutant didn’t even seem to notice. 

He tore off Kurt’s jacket and t-shirt, and Kurt’s tail started thrashing wildly as Angel groped for somewhere to grab it, to break the delicate bones inside, snarling like a beast. 

And then suddenly he stopped. The grip around Kurt’s neck grew a fraction less tight and Nightcrawler drew a shaky, desperate breath. The stars in front of his eyes withdrew a little as oxygen entered his body.

“What is this? What is this?!” In the desperate fight, Kurt had twisted somewhat in Warren’s grip and now Angel pointed at the new scarring on his shoulder, the one still bleeding so he had to hide it under bandages which had now been ripped off.

The scarring of wings, spread out from his backbones to his shoulders. Wings cut into blue flesh with beautiful details and no pain relievers. 

“For… my…sin,” Kurt croaked, still clutching the grip around his neck. 

“Sin? What sin?” Angel stared at the finely rendered wings, tiny feathers painstakingly cut into skin. 

“My sin…of wrath…of violence…of hurting you…..and destroying you. I had to….pay for my sin. Had to pay for what I did to you. These are my punishment and reminder that wrath and violence will bring nothing but the destruction of beauty.” It became increasingly easy to breath and talk for each stuttered explanation. Warren’s grip grew more and more loose around his neck and he gulped down air thankfully. “Wrath is one of the seven deadly sins. I thought you were dead. I couldn’t apologize or make amends. But…I couldn’t live with the sin of what I had done either. I had to punish myself. And it had to be beautiful. To remember you as you were before I hurt you.”

Warren was staring at him as if he’d never seen anything like him before. It wasn’t a stare that Nightcrawler was unfamiliar with, but this time it wasn’t his looks that drew the stare. It was his soul. 

“So many people have hurt me over the years,” Warren mumbled softly. “No one has felt remotely as bad about it as you.” The grip on Kurt’s neck shifted again, this time to more of a support.

“I am truly sorry for what I did.” Kurt lowered his eyes as the shame burst up inside him. “Both when I was forced to do it and when I was not.”

“How did you….on your back…?”

“With this.” He waved his prehensile tail. “And a razor. And a mirror.” He almost smiled, showing pointy teeth. “It took some time. But the pain….helped me move on.”

“All these scarring….you did yourself? How many….?” A kind of almost morbid curiosity held Warren as he looked at the many scars decorating Nightcrawler’s body. 

“One for every sin.” This time he did smile, fangs flashing embarrassed. “So quite a few.”

Warren closed his eyes and the anger seemed to drain from him, leaving him weak as a wrung out rag. The metal wings beat slower and they started descending. Nightcralwer looked at him wildly. 

“You are not going to…kick my ass?”

Warren shook his head.

“There is nothing….I can’t….” he tried to encompass the enormousness of what Kurt had done to himself into words and failed. “I forgive you. There is nothing left to forgive. Please, if you can…forgive me to?”

“Of course, my friend. We were both victims of circumstance.” Bellow the school park was approaching rapidly, but not too fast. Kurt could see his friends as little spots far beneath them and he squirmed uncomfortably. “Please. If I could ask a favor of you? I know I have no right…..”

Warren laughed, hoarsely. 

“Anything.”

“Your sweater. If I could borrow it. I would not want the others to see my scars. My sins.” Red eyes met blue and smiled wryly. “Pride is not yet a sin I have conquered fully.”

Warren laughed, despite himself and they landed a bit away. They managed to shift sweaters quickly – it was far too big on Kurt’s scrawny chest – before there was a flash of silver and a fist connected to Warren’s chin, sending him stumbling back.

“Peter, no!” Kurt shouted. “No more violence, please!”

With a popping of gum, Quicksilver suddenly appeared, scoping Kurt up in his arms and glaring at Warren.

“Less than you deserve.” He grunted at the fallen Angel. “You stay away from our little buddy, ya hear?”

And then they were gone in a new flash of silver.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yes, I am aware there were pizza in Germany in the -80, but that doesn’t mean a poor circus freak got any.  
> A/N2: Some of Kurt’s talking is ‘misspelled’ to emphasize his adorable accent. Others are misspelled due to my bad English.

Kurt wasn’t used to being taken care of and he got pretty embarrassed and flustered as the gang gathered around him, fussing over him and trying to make sure he was alright in between making all kinds of threat towards Warren if he ever tried to hurt their friend again. 

“Ja, ja, I am fine.” A darker shade on his cheeks was probably Kurt’s version of blushing as he tried to climb down from the bridal style grip Quicksilver had him in. “It was all a misunderstanding. We are not enemies anymore, so please stop threatening herr Worthingon. He forgave me. We are fine.” He finally managed to squeeze out from Peter’s grip only to have his legs buckle beneath him. Peter quickly caught his elbow and helped him stand upright. “I am tired, though.” He sighed, mopping at the sweat on his brow with the too big shirt arm.

“*He* forgave *you*?!” Scott snorted in disbelief. “Kurt, you did nothing wrong! He attacked you! If anything, you should be forgiving him!”

“Please, Scott, I’m very tired. Can we talk about this later?” Kurt sighed. “I need a nap, I tink.”

There were obviously a hundred more questions his friends wanted to ask him – such as why he was wearing Angle’s sweater - but Kurt was relived as they just exchanged looks and nodded. He was really too exhausted to try to explain anything right now. 

They followed him up to his room and he managed to shoo them off – politely and with many thanks – and finally be alone. As the door closed, Kurt sank down next to it. He was trembling from head to toe; too many emotions and far too many teleportations had taken a grave toll. He needed food and he needed sleep, but first of all he needed a shower. 

As he pulled the sweater over his head once more he was suddenly engulfed in the scent of the other mutant, a nice, fresh scent, not at all like his own which was right now one of sulphur and sweat. He sighed as he put it aside carefully, vowing to wash it before returning it. 

He showered long and hot, taking his time to luxuriate in the mere fact of hot water that just kept on coming no matter how long he stayed in there. His neck hurt where Angel had grabbed him and his shoulders hurt were the scarring at been ripped open by his squirming when he tried to be free. He glanced at the wings he’d made on himself; he was happy with the way they had come out and the little details. *Not as beautiful as the real ones,* he thought to himself and sighed. 

It took some time to dry off when one was covered in fine blue downy fur, and by the time Kurt was done he was even more exhausted. He knew he needed to eat but he didn’t have the energy to walk down to the kitchen and he most certainly didn’t have the energy to bamf there. Maybe if he slept a little first…..

There was a knock on the door and he wrapped a blanket around himself to cover up as much skin as possible before opening it. 

Peter stood outside, leaning against the doorpost and popping his gum. 

“Jean said you were hungry and tired. Want me to get you something?” He winked. “But I warn you, all I can manage is fast food. Fast food. Get it?”

Kurt managed a weak, sharp toothed smile, but the dark colour on his cheeks betrayed him once more. Damn, but the little ‘crawler sure had had a tough life is something as simple as being brought food made him flushed, Peter thought to himself. It was also a testament to Kurt’s hunger and tiredness that he didn’t immediately try to assure Peter that he would managed fine on his own. 

“I…thank you. That would be….ja, thank you.” Kurt leaned on the doorpost as well, but from his stance it had less to do with coolness and more with exhaustion. It made Peter wish he’d punched that damn Angel just a few more extra times. 

“Anything you want, little buddy.” He said instead. 

“Sauerkraut undt Bratwurst?”

“Dude, I don’t even know what those are and Germany is a bit far even for me. How about pizza?”

Kurt frowned. 

“What is ‘pizza’?”

Peter just stared for a second. Then he lowered his visors. 

“Right. Pizza it is.”

Between one blink of an eye and the next he was back, holding a flat package that smelled like cheese. He presented it with a flourish.

“It looks like a warm sandwich,” Kurt said carefully, examining it. His belly growled and his tail twisted. 

“Sorta. Come on, if you let me in, I’ll show you how to eat it.”

Kurt hadn’t lived in the room long but he’s already had time to put in a few personal touches to the generic room; there was a cross over the bed and several movie star posters on the wall. There was also his Thriller inspired jacket hanging on a chair. Peter gently shoved him down on the bed and then started handing him pizza slices, watching with a wry smile as the young mutant started devouring them. His blanket fell down a bit during the feeding frenzy and Peter could see the skinny shoulder blades and collarbones…..and something strange on those shoulder blades, something that reminded of the scarring on his face. Poor kid, there was no telling what those damn people had done to him before Raven rescued him. 

“Oh, I am zorry!” With his mouth full of pizza, Kurt suddenly stared at Peter with wide red eyes. “Do you want some? I’ve been eating almost all of it….”

“I’ll just take one to keep you company. The rest is all yours, buddy.” He took up a slice and started chewing while Kurt gave him an almost pathetically grateful glance and went to work on the rest of it.

Finally, the pizza was obliterated down to the last strand of cheese, and Nightcrawler fell back on his bed, blanket draped carelessly over him as his eyes almost crossed from tiredness. Under those blankets Peter could see the way his belly actually stood up from all the food he’d eaten; he silently vowed to get Kurt to eat more, and more regularly. 

“Hey, you sleep now, little buddy.” Smiling Peter gathered up the trash and then found another blanket to put over the lanky blue body. The two toed feet curled up a bit as Nightcrawler settled in to sleep and his red eyes started shutting. 

“Tank you, my friend.” He mumbled sleepily and suddenly the tail wrapped around Peter’s arm, squeezing it gently. “You are a very good friend.”

Peter just stared at the warm, fuzzy appendix and tried to supress an urge to stroke it. When it let go of him and curled up around Kurt like a cat’s tail he mumbled back. 

“Night, night, little ‘crawler. See you tomorrow.”

Nightcrawler was asleep before he left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Angel returns to the story  
> A/N2: Explaining the difference between kissing in Germany and USA XD

With food and sleep, Kurt quickly bounced back from his experience with Warren but he was touched to see how his friends all clustered up to him everytime he put his tail outside his room these days. Touches and after two days a bit exasperated. He wasn’t a child who needed his every step watched and the dark looks Scott, Jubilation, Jean and most certainly Peter threw at Warren as soon as they happened to see him in a corridor or the park made him sad. He truly had no quarrel with Angel anymore, and he would have wished for nothing more than his friends to accept the other man as well. 

Warren was seldom alone when they caught a glimts of him; he was usually surrounded by more or less fawning girls but he didn’t seem very interested in them. The looks he gave Kurt was no longer angry, but they were thoughtful. And long. 

 

Kurt’s and Peter’s friendship got stronger and it was not unusual to see them curled up together on a couch watching tv or, in Kurt’s case, reading. But other relations grew stronger as well.

“Hey, you to! Keep that PDA stuff in your rooms, alright? You are traumatizing ‘crawler!” Peter yelled at Scott and Jean on one particulary hot and steamy make out session in the common room; he had his hand firmly over Kurt’s eyes.

“Please, Peter!” Annoyed Kurt squirmed to get free from the grip. “I have faith, but I am not a prude! In Europe there is no such thing as ‘public displays of affection’, it’s called kissing or ‘young love’. And I assure you I don’t mind it.” He managed to get his eyes free and suddenly froze as he caught sight of the two lovers who probably hadn’t even heard Peter yelling. His eyes got huge and the scarring on his cheeks stood out white against the dark of his blush and he was no more able to look away than if it had been a carcrash. “Um. Um. Ja, perhaps in Germany the kissing in public is a little more…restrained?” He stared even as Peter grabbed his arm and started leading him away. “And, um, perhaps not quite so, um, sloppy and enthusiastic?” The last thing they heard before he was dragged around a corner was: “Vas that their tongues?!”

 

Since his friends seldom left him alone any more, it was a bit of a relief to be able to close the door to his room at night and be alone for once and Kurt took full advantage of it, reading cozied up in bed when he felt the tantalizing scent. Sniffing, he sat up, his head tilting from side to side until he localized it; the ventilation. 

He just thought it through for a second. Then he slid out of bed and bamfed in to the corridor. 

Teleporting was one of his mutant powers but it wasn’t the only one. He blended perfectly into the shadows as he moved through the darkened school; the few student and teachers still walking the corridors never knew he was there. And then he reached the kitchen and hesitated. What if his friends were right? Oh well. He’d have to have faith. 

Warren was in the kitchen and he was cooking. The familiar, mouth-watering scent made Kurt almost dizzy and suddenly, unstoppable, his belly growled. 

Warren jumped and almost dropped his pans, his metal wings flashing out. Pots and pans crashed with a clatter as the wings ripped them down. 

“Oh. Hello?” Awkwardly, Kurt waved his hand as he stepped out of the shadows. 

“Damn it, don’t scare me like that!” Warren growled, the effect somewhat spoiled by the striped apron he was wearing. 

“I’m so sorry, I just….smelled something….and I was…” He didn’t really know how to finish the sentence. 

“Hungry?” Warren smiled, a lopsided smile but the first one Kurt had ever seen him make. “Yeah me to. This place serves good food but sometimes you want to get something from back home, right?”

“It is….Sauerkraut udt Bratwurst?” A pink tongue came out in between pointy fangs and probably without Kurt knowing it his tail started wagging. 

“You want some?”

“I wouldn’t want to impose…” Suddenly recalling his manners, Kurt started backing out. 

“Come. Sit down. Keep me company, if you wish. It gets pretty lonely around here.” Warren took out another plate and put a good helping on it from his pots. 

Unable to resist, Kurt jumped up on the table in a graceful crouch and took the plate, inhaling deeply the scents of his childhood. Warren took a chair and turned it backwards to leave space for his wings. For a little while they ate in silence, savouring the meal.

“Tank you, my friend.” Kurt cleaned out the plate with a content sigh. “You are a most competent chef.”

“Thank you for the company.” Warren smiled back. “It’s boring to eat all alone.”

“Oh? Everytime I see you, you are around people?” Kurt asked curiously.

“Being around people is not the same thing as having friends.” Warren looked up in the red eyes. “Just as being alone is not always the same as being lonely.”

“Yes, that is true. Is that why you hide your real wings?” Kurt shrugged back as Warren came suddenly to his feet, prepared to bamf if the man should turn violent. But Warren just stared at him. He looked…..frightened. And vulnerable. 

“How did you know?!” His wings flexed out and in behind him, metal shining in the dim kitchen light. 

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Waving his hands, Kurt tried to make amends. “It’s just…it’s just…there is no smell, ja? No smell of metal around you. Your wings….”

Warren slumped back in his chair, leaning his head in his hands. 

“We thought the illusion was perfect.” He mumbled. “It was…my demand from professor Xavier if I was to go here.” He held out a little gadget and with a quick press, the illusion of metal wings gave way to real, soft, white ones. Real wings, grown out once more. 

Kurt hissed in surprise at seeing the beautiful wings once more and his hand, moving by its own accord, reached out for them. Warren hesitated, and then the wings moved forward, enclosing Kurt in white, airy feathers. One of them touched his cheek, soft as down and he closed his eyes in wonder…..

The door was suddenly slammed open and Peter stood there, wearing nothing but pyjama pants and goggles and panting slightly in anger.

Warren’s wings snapped back, leaving Kurt to blink in confusion before spotting Peter who was just staring at the scene, unable to speak.

“Oh, hi!” He waved brightly. “I smelled this delicious food through the ventilation and Warren was kind enough to offer me some.”

Peter took one look at the wings and the ventilation shaft and very quickly drew some conclusions that hadn’t even entered Kurt’s mind. Peter and Warren exchanged a glare that if, if either of them had been Scott, would have killed. 

“Yeah sure. Well it’s passed you kids bedtime. Time to go back, little buddie.” And before anyone could protest he hoisted up Kurt and ran out of the kitchen


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sooooo much Kurt kissing! Too much Kurt kissing? Never!  
> A/N: Long chapter is long. My apologise

“Kurt, can I ask you something?” Jubilation looked up at the other mutant who was hanging comfortably upside down in the tree above her, doing his homework. It was a wonderfully warm summer day and the park was filled with student waiting for summer vacation to start in just a few weeks. 

“Of course, my friend.” Kurt was swinging gently back and forth, chewing the end of his pencil to splinters as he frowned the questions Hank wanted answered for tomorrow.

Jubilee shifted a bit uncomfortable, but soldiered on. 

“It’s rather personal.”

That made Kurt look up from his books and look at her, still upside down. 

“Ja?” He said softly.

“Have you ever…had a romantic relationship with anyone?” She chewed her nail, trying to sound casual.

Kurt smiled. Even upside down, it was a sad smile. 

“No. This – “ he made a sweeping gesture at his blue body, tail, two toed feet and three fingered hands. “- does not inspire much romance, I’m afraid. But,” he said, smile returning to happiness, “I have had amazing luck with friends.”

For a second Jubilation just stared at him. Could anyone really be so incredibly blind to themselves and people around them? Well, yes, she guessed, if that person was Nightcrawler. 

“So, there is no girlfriends in your past?” She pressed on.

For a second Kurt’s face shifted into something close to panic and his tail started whipping around frantically. 

“Ah, Jubilation.” He stammered. “You are a good friend, the very best of friends, but I’m afraid I don’t feel that way about you….”

“Not me, stupid!” She laughed and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder that made him swing even wilder. “You are my friend as well, Kurt. I am…just curious.”

“Vell. If you must know. I doubt if there will be any, ah, *girl* friends in my future.” He mumbled, burying his face in his books once more.

“Oh.” She nodded and smiled, having had her suspicion confirmed. “And your God is alright with that?”

Kurt smiled, looking at her once more.

“God is almighty. If He has chosen to make me like I am, who am I to argue?”

 

“Nein, you have to mover your feet….no, like this…..and your hips….” It was with barely controlled mirth that Kurt tried to get Peter to move to the beating music. “How could anyone with such good taste in music be so lousy at dancing?!” He finally fell over himself with laughter. 

“Look, most of us actually have our spines connected to both our hips AND the base of our sculls,” Peter tried to frown but it was impossible to even pretend to be angry with Kurt rolling on the floor, holding his belly and trying to wipe his eyes with his tail. “Just you show me once more, I think I’m getting a hang of these moves.”

“Ja, sure you do, my friend.” Trying to compose himself, Kurt got to his feet and with a gracefulness that was almost surreal twisted himself into a perfectly timed breakdance improvisation. 

*Shit, I’m never gonna be able to do that.* Not that he minded Kurt’s hands on his hips as he tried to teach him.

“Alright, I got it, watch this….” And that was the last words Peter said for quite some time because somehow his foot kicked out, hit Kurt’s knee and they both toppled. 

They fell over, rather abruptly, Peter managing to twist in mid-air so that he could take the brunt of the fall. And if perhaps there suddenly was one or two pillows to cushion his fall then Kurt would never know; he fell rather comfortably straight on to Quicksilver and the silliness of the situation suddenly got to them both. They started laughing so hard tears sprung into their eyes and with Kurt still stretched out on him – his lanky body not very heavy and yet Peter was aware of every inch of them that touched - and with their faces only inches apart, Peter took a chance. 

Lightly he slid his hand through Kurt’s soft hair to the back of his neck and held him still as he gently pressed their lips together. 

Kurt’s red eyes got huge with panic and suddenly Peter found himself holding nothing but weird smelling air as the bamf echoed in his ears. He didn’t have time to panic over what he’d done before there was another bamf and suddenly Kurt was back on top of him, eyes still huge but no longer frightened. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he mumbled. “I was just….can we try it again?”

Peter’s arms wrapped around him, holding him close as they kissed again and Kurt’s three-fingered hands slid through silver hair and his tail wrapped around a strong leg and at that exact moment the door opened and Scott and Jean stepped in. 

There was a moment of shock from both parties and then Kurt yelped and bamfed himself and Peter away in a cloud of smoke. 

Jean and Scott was left staring at empty air. 

“And they complain about us being PDA,” Jean finally managed to say. 

 

“…and that’s how the attraction of two bodies change the way the universe moves.” Hank finished his physic lesson just as a huge cloud and a sound like a thunderclap echoed through the classroom. 

Those students that didn’t blink got an eyeful of Quicksilver and Nightcrawler, arms and legs and tail twisting around each other and hands in hair or under shirt before there was a flash of silver and it was all gone. 

Hank didn’t blink. He just rubbed his forehead and swore silently to himself over the fact that he would now have to erase all the little smiley faces that had appeared on each and every one of his 0 or O on the blackboard and probably open all the windows to get rid of the stench of sulphur. 

“Class dismissed,” he sighed. 

 

Despite Kurt keeping quiet about Warren’s wings, the rumour about them spread across campus like, well, quicksilver and it brought bad news with them. All student knew that Angel and Storm had been on the opposing side during the fight against Apocalypse, but Ororo had redeemed herself before the end and was more or less cleared in the eyes of the students. But Warren had not, and now that it was rumoured that his wings were not lethal metal blades but soft white feathers, things turned ugly. It was true that he could doubtlessly fight – but in the human, fisticuff way. It was even rumoured, although barely believed, that he had twice got his ass kicked by the kindest, most gentle mutant on school – Kurt. 

Since he no longer inspired fear by simple looks or rumour, Warren found himself being the butt of increasingly cruel pranks and the bullies that had avoided him before started creeping out of the woodwork. He finally abandoned the illusion of metal wings once and for all, refusing to be seen as trying to hide when it was useless. 

“So, what is your mutation anyway? Chicken Power?” Three of them had cornered Warren against a tree – unusually clever of them since the wide bought made it impossible for him to simply fly away. “Gonna cluck for us?” That brought laughter for them other two; Warren scowled. He’d rather not fight his way out – professor Xavier didn’t approve of fighting on his school – but he couldn’t really see he had a choice. 

What little choice he had was brutally taken from him when one of the bullies grabbed a handful of feathers and pulled them, not hard enough to tear them out but hard enough to make the threat clear. 

“Didn’t you hear me, little chicken? Cluck for us, or we are gonna pluck you like a hen….”

“No!” It all went so fast that Warren barely had time to register the hissed word over the bamf of air molecules being forced apart, there was a stench of sulphur, the quick sight of three-fingered hands on two bullies arms and a tail around the third ones neck and then another bamf and they were all gone. 

They appeared a fraction of a second later about ten feet in the air above the campus swimming school where they hang suspended in the air for a second before three of them fell into the water. The fourth, unmistakable one, reappeared once more by Warren’s tree, still hissing in anger.

A little off balance, Warren leaned against the tree, eyebrows shooting up. 

“I thought you didn’t approve of violence.” He mumbled at Kurt who was still shooting ugly glances at the swimming pool and the three figures clumsily trying to get out of it. 

“There are times when it is justified.” Kurt’s face was set in something that was very far from remorse. 

Warren couldn’t help but chuckle. Gently, he grabbed Kurt’s arm and pulled him closer and Kurt suddenly found himself surrounded by those glorious white wings once more.

“You will not fight to save yourself but you will fight to save your friends?” Kurt didn’t know why, but suddenly his heart was beating faster than it had done even when fighting Apocalypse as Warren’s hand slide down his scarred cheek. “You are truly something else, Nightcrawler.”

And then he kissed him. Soft lips and smooth teeth pressing against Kurt’s sharp fangs, almost drawing blood on the sharp digits but apparently not caring, as Warren kissed him with abandon, as if he wanted to taste Kurt’s very soul. Every little fuzzy hair on Kurt’s body seemed to stand upright as hands slid down his flanks and there was a sensation in his brain that wasn’t unlike that of a brainfreeze, only far, far more pleasant. 

“I will see you later, Kurt.” Warren said as he withdrew both wings and mouth and walked away with a little wave of his hand, straighter in the back than Kurt had seen him for weeks. 

He felt the sudden need to sit down as his legs didn’t feel like supporting him anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N2: Jubilation had far too little screentime in the movie so I’m compensating

“Forgive me Father, for I have sinned….” Kneeling by the altar in the little catholic church not far from Xavier’s institute, Kurt muttered the same prayers over and over again, as he had for hours. His knees were feeling numb and his hands sweaty from holding together so long, the rosary dangling between them.

“I thought your God didn’t care if you liked boys?” Came a familiar voice from the aisle behind him, and for the first time in hours, Kurt looked up. 

Jubilation stood there, watching him with sad eyes. 

“God is love.” His voice was cracked with the many hours of reciting prayers. “Therefor love cannot be wrong. But,” he sighed, closing his eyes so hard they almost hurt, ”monogamy is sacred. It’s trust. I…..I kissed both of them.”

“But which one of them do you like the most?”

“I don’t know! I can’t…..there can’t be three of us in a relationship….” He suddenly itched his neck, as if something had bitten him.

“Four.” Jubilation shook her head. “Four in your relationship.”

“Vat do you mean?” He frowned up on her.

“You, Peter, Warren and,” Jubilation nodded up at the altar. “And God. The only one who won’t talk back to you.” Something stung her elbow and she scratched at it; were there mosquitos in this church? “It seems to me that perhaps you should talk less to him and more to them about this?”

“Ja, it’s true.” Kurt got to his feet, a little wobbly after sitting down so long. “I need to go and talk to both Peter and Warren. Before they do something stupid.”

Jubilation nodded; her head felt strange as she leaned against a cool wall.

“That’s what I came to tell you. Peter and Warren are fighting in the school park.”

“Vat?! I need to go! Can you get back yourself?” He shook his head to clear it from prayers as his friend nodded and tried to bamf back. But instead of the cool green grass of the park Kurt found himself face down on the church floor as his head spun wildly and the last thing he saw before he passed out was Jubilation sliding down the wall unconscious with a small needle sticking out of her arm; the same kind of needle that was stuck in his neck. 

And then all was black. 

 

“Get down here, you chicken-shit coward!” Peter yelled at the air where Warren was hovering, frowning down on him. 

“Fight you on the battlefield of your choosing? Why would I be so stupid? Can’t you admit you are useless anywhere except on land?”

Snarling with rage, Peter grabbed a handful of leaves from a tree, threw them up in the air and in Quicksilver mode climbed them like a ladder to get to the damn flying monkey. Sure, he could have just tossed the leaves like missiles, but this somehow required a more personal beat down. He wanted to put his fists against that too good-looking bastard’s face.

But air was Warren’s element and he must have foreseen what Peter would try; the air currents created by his wings were slowed down but still effective; they shoved the leaves too far aside for Peter to reach him and all he managed was to swear and wave and no one even had time to see it. Back on the ground and back in normal time, Peter took another approach. 

“What would he even want with your moping ass? Kurt is a fun guy, a sweet guy, he doesn’t need all your damn drama!”

That actually made Warren descend a little, anger crossing his face, before he collected himself.

“Maybe what he wants is some intellectual stimulation and depths and not just a damn poser boy!” He snarled back. 

“Stop it!” Scott tried to get between the contestants before a real fight started. “Stop it before you are both expelled!”

“Kurt wouldn’t want you to fight…..where is Kurt?” Jean suddenly swung around wildly, searching. 

“What do you mean? He hasn’t been here at all.” Peter frowned at her, not really wanting to take his eyes of Warren. 

“No, I mean…..I can’t sense him. I felt him just a few minutes ago, he was just here!” She tapped her head with a knuckle. “Jubilee to. I can’t sense them anywhere!”

“Maybe they bamfed out of range?” Scott tried to calm her. Now both Warren and Peter was looking at her with distress. 

“Perhaps, but….” She closed her eyes, sending her message to professor Xavier. *Professor. I’ve lost Kurt and Jubilation. Can you sense them?*

There was a short pause, then a wave of distress and an answer she didn’t want.

*Yes, faintly.* He helped her hook up on his telepathic ability, sense the vague forms that was he friends. *Something has happened to them; these are not normal healthy minds, not even sleeping ones. I fear they might have been drugged.*

And then, just as sudden, the connection was cut off. 

“Jean? Jean, what happened?! Where is Kurt?” She snapped back by Peter shaking her. Warren had landed, but they had no though of fighting now. 

“And Jubilation?” Scott added. 

“I don’t know! Not Charles either! We found them – we think they were drugged – then suddenly they snapped out of reach, just like….” Her eyes grew wide with realization. “Just like when we were in that electrified cage in the helicopter!”

In the stunned, shocked silence it was Scott who stated what they all knew.

“Someone kidnapped our friends.”

 

“Hey. Hey! Little freak, wake up!” The voice filtered slowly through Kurt’s groggy brain, not much helped by the words being said in German. 

A sudden sharp shock to his naked foot made him yelp and twist aside, only to scream as his shoulder touched high voltage fence. Forcing himself away and up to his feet in a crouch he stared around wildly, sweat of dread running down his spine; the cage was small, too small for him to stand up in and it was crackling with electricity. *Nononono, not again, not the cage and the violence again!*

The cage was in a barn, a dusty old thing, and with too little light to see properly; he could hear people moving around but not see anyone. 

And then he saw the other cage and the small form laying in the cage next to his and his heart almost stopped. Jubilation, not moving.

“Let her go, you swine!” He screamed, trying to bamf out despite it not working the last times. It didn’t this time either and all he got was another face full of high voltage, sending him screaming to the floor. 

“We might. We might. If you just promise us one little thing.” His ears were ringing and possibly bleeding as he shakingly got to his feet and he still couldn’t place that voice, he knew he’d heard that German voice before…

“Vat?! Vat do you want?!” He hissed. “I have nothing!”

“Oh, just one simple thing. Just your promise of full cooperation. The complete cooperation of the amazing Nightcrawler.” As the man stepped out into the light Kurt felt himself fighting for his last shreds of hope. 

It was the man from the fighting cage. 

“I….I don’t know vat you want from me?” Kurt tried to back away, but there wasn’t much room in the cramped space. In the next cage he could hear Jubilation groan as she was waking up. 

“It is very simple.” Twirling his greasy moustache, the man stared at Kurt with a strange kind of loathing. It was far too easy to remember he made his living from watching mutants fight to the death; Kurt had no illusions that there would be any mercy to expect from him. “You and your little friends destroyed our bar and our fighting cage, ja? I expect you to pay for it.”

“I don’t have any….how much?” He could see Jubilation sit up now, shaking her head to clear it. She was alive. He had to hold on to that. She was alive. 

But for how much longer? A terrible thought struck him. 

“I am not going to fight her!” He all but screamed, pointing at his friend. 

The man laughed, a low ugly chuckle that made Jubilation look up and take in their horrible predicament. 

“No, no. No more fighting. We just want pay. About a hundred million dollars.”

“Vat?! That’s ridiculous!” No one had that much money; not even professor Xavier could pay a ransom like that. 

“The federal Bank of America does.” He smiled, showing stained teeth. “In their vault, in nice fresh gold bars. Just waiting to be ‘ported to us here.”

“But that’s…I haven’t ever been in a vault or a bank, I can’t teleport there, I might end up inside a wall!” Kurt tried to protest, knowing it would do him no good. 

“Then I guess the question is whose life you value the most, your own or your friend’s?” And the man aimed a big ugly gun into Jubilation’s cage


	6. Chapter 6

The plan was deviously simple, Kurt had to admit as he tried to burn the information on the maps and blueprints into his brain. He was supposed to bamf in to the vault, take as much gold as he could and bamf back to the barn with it. If he took too long in between teleportations, they would shoot Jubilation. If he failed to empty the vault within an hour, they would shoot Jubilation. If he tried to get help, or attacked the men who had kidnapped them…..He closed his eyes and shook his head. There were too much that could go lethally wrong with this plan, but at least those dangers were aimed at him, not this friend. 

“I could steal something else for you. Diamonds, money, jewelry….gold is heavy.” He tried to explain but the man wouldn’t listen.

“Gold is untraceable, unlike money and diamonds. We want the gold.”

“If I can’t see where I’m going, I could end up inside a wall!” Which would kill him, and then they would shoot Jubilation….

“Better keep your fingers crossed then, eh, demon? If you even can cross your fingers.” The man glared evilly. “The clock is ticking. 55 minutes left. You better get moving.”

Kurt nodded, and cast one last look at Jubilation who sat in the middle of her electrified cage, her face pale but set. She wouldn’t show any fear.

“I am sorry, my friend. I will save you.” He said and then, before she could find any words, he ‘ported away. 

Kurt wrapped himself in as small a ball as he could; knees drawn up to his chin, arms around legs and tail wrapped around himself. It was all he could do, that and pray, as he bamfed blindly, hoping against hope that he would survive or at least die quickly. He was not afraid of dying, but Jubilation….

 

Luck, skill or the grace of God saved him; he appeared in a spacious vault, about a meter over the floor and landed quietly. It was dimly lit by fluorescent light, and the walls were lined with safety boxes, He ignored them, hurrying for the gold – and then his heart almost dropped. 

There were too much gold; and absurd, almost grotesque, amount of it piled in neat stacks, each bar about as long as his arm. He hefted one, trying to judge the weight. Perhaps he could take ten of these for each teleportation, but that would barely make a dent in the pile. He could never empty this vault in an hour. Perhaps if he’d had a week to do it, carefully resting and eating in between, he might succeed. 

But time was running out; he put his arms around as many bars as he could grab and ‘ported back to the barn. 

 

Jubilation was seriously pissed off. She was also frightened, terrified, groggy from the drug and in no small amount of pain. But it was the anger she held on to, for all that she was worth. 

The man who had kidnapped her and Kurt thought she’d been unconscious for longer than Nightcrawler, she’d been careful to make sure of that. The electrical cages surrounding her and her friend might stop Kurt’s teleportation and Jean’s telepathy, but it didn’t do much to other, more physical powers and she had quickly discovered she could still use hers. 

Unfortunately, her powers weren’t much use; the sparkling explosions and firework sprouting from her fingers were harmless and couldn’t take out the guards or destroy the cage like Scott’s beams could. All she could do was create distractions. Or attractions. 

It was the last option she had used, in desperation, as the men carried her cage from the van they had been transported in to the barn; she had planted ten specialized fireworks to go off, one every fifteen minutes, and she could just hope that someone would see them and recognize them. 

She, and the men, jumped as a loud bang suddenly resonate in the air. Heavy gold bars clattered to the floor as Kurt appeared. So that was their plan; she hadn’t understood the German they were speaking but now she had no doubt about her role. She was simply insurance that Kurt would do as they wanted. 

Kurt barely gave himself time to land before disappearing again and the men screamed in rapture as gold bars started raining down on the floor, again and again and again. Only Jubilation looked at Kurt and she could see the beads of sweat already forming on his brow.

 

“Find him! Go get him!” warren screamed at Peter as if he was a dog in a game of fetch.

“I can’t, if I don’t know where he is, you overgrown chicken!” Peter’s body was humming with a need for speed, but running around uselessly would only drain his energy. 

“What use even are you then?” Warren snarled as his wings flashed out, taking to the sky. Up in the clear air he could see the institute, the city nearby, people milling around and cars driving by, houses and streets and trees….but it was all too much; how could he ever single out even a blue mutant in this anthill of people? Perhaps if he teleported, but if he could do that, he wouldn’t be trapped, would he?

A sudden flash of yellow caught his eyes and he swirled in the air. Fireworks in the middle of the day?

*Jubilation’s powers are firework. Keep looking for it!* Jean’s voice echoed in his mind. 

*Stay out of my head!* He snarled back, but obeyed anyway. 

It was the longest fifteen minutes of his life, but finally he saw it again and his heart leapt; a huge yellow mark with a black cross in the middle. Unmistakable. And way out on the other end of the city. 

Warren’s pride and concern for Kurt battled for a short while, and then he flew back down, landing amongst the friends. 

“I know where they are, or at least where Jubilation is. I’ll tell you….on one condition.”

Peter groaned, pulling his hands through his hair. 

“I’m going to have to bring you along, aren’t I?”

Warren nodded.

“Alright, fine, just tell me already. And tuck in those damn wings, they’re going to be hell to get through traffic.”

“Hey, we want to come to – “ Scott started but Warren had already whispered the address to Pieter and before Scott came to the end of the sentence, they were no longer there.

 

“Stop it! Can’t you see you are killing him?!” Jubilation screamed to no avail as Kurt fell to his knees amongst the gold, veering dangerously as if he was about to keel over. More gold fell from his loose grip to add to the growing pile.

“Ja, ja! More gold, more gold!” the man with the greasy mustache was all but jumping with gleeful greed; he didn’t spare a glance at the exhausted mutant. 

Nightcrawler could feel his heart beating; it had gone from beating frantically to erratic and his downy fur was drenched with sweat that stung in every scar on his body. Breath came wheezing through gritted, sharp teeth. He ‘ported back to what felt like some kind of hell filled with gold and it took him three tries to bamf back with the cursed gold bars. 

Jubilation watched her friend fall over in the gold pile with terrified despair. Kurt’s tail twitched and there were a number of strange, small sound and puffs of purple smoke. In horror, Jubilatipn realized that Kurt was still trying to bamf back to the vault.

“Kurt, stop it! You are killing yourself!” She screamed.

He looked up, and red eyes caught hers as he tried to smile.

That was what she would always remember. That in the end, he still tried to smile. 

 

Quicksilver could run fast, but he couldn’t run forever, especially not when hoisting another person around. By the time they got to the barn he was all but out of speed. 

Warren flew up to a window on the second floor and glanced in, giving Peter a quick glance up and down as he landed. 

“There are four of them, with machine guns. The girl is in a cage but I couldn’t spot Kurt. Can you even fight without being in Sonic the Hedgehoge mode?” He sneered. 

“I can for Kurt.” Peter panted, glaring back with his hands on his knees. 

“We’ll see I guess. I’ll go in from above, you go in as fast as you can. If Kurt’s not there we need to keep at least one of them alive for questioning.”

“I’m not going to kill anyone! And you better not either.” He saw the sneer on Warren’s face and pointed a finger at him. “Kurt would never forgive you.”

“I suppose. Now let’s go and try not to get yourself killed.” Warren saw Peter’s surprised look and added through his teeth. “Kurt would never forgive me for that either.”

The first sound was soft, like the beating of wings far above and it went all but unheard. Then there was a grunt and the clatter of a machine gun falling to the ground and suddenly all Hell broke loose. 

“Shoot them! Shoot them!” The man with the mustache screamed, still trying to hold on to as many bars as possible. 

Jubilee screamed as then men turned towards her, lifting their guns. A rush of sparks blinded them temporarily but not before a swarm of bullets was released. 

None of them hit her. Somehow, they all missed, and one of them even smashed the cage door open. The two men aiming for her flew across the room, slamming against the far wall and Jubilation could just gape in awe as Quicksilver fell to his knees. 

“I think….that was the last….spurt for a while…” he gasped. “Is there….more of them?”

“There were four, I think.” She rushed out of the cage and helped him up. “The last one, the man with the moustache, where is he?”

She managed not to startle as Angel suddenly landed next to them. 

“I took care of one, but he didn’t have a moustache. So three down.”

They quickly looked around but there were no one in sight, just three unconscious men and a pile of gold bars, and half-buried under that was…

“Kurt!” They all screamed at once, running to his side, but the blue mutant wasn’t moving. His chest was rising and falling far too slowly and the pulse was beating far too fast; his red eyes was open but rolled up underneath his eyelids, staring at nothing. 

“Damn it, Kurt, wake up! What did they do to you?!” Warren screamed at the unconscious mutant to no avail. 

Peter had fallen back on his knees, holding Kurt’s limp hand in his own, biting his own knuckles in overwhelming despair. *I was too slow. Too late. Why am I always too late?!”

“He exhausted himself. They forced him to lift all that heavy gold. We need to get him to an infirmary!” 

“But how, it will take too long to carry him. We need a car….”

“You got one.” The door was suddenly kicked open as Scott and Jean rushed in; a car stood outside with the motor still running. “I can still read your minds, asshole.” She rolled her eyes as Warren’s stare. “And Kurt’s. He’s still in there. Far inside, but….I think he will be alright.”

 

“Vell. It is very important to me.” Kurt crossed his arms in the sickbay bed, looking unusually determined as he locked eyes with his two boyfriends. Yes two, although they didn’t yet get along to well without him, but he still had hope. He always had hope. 

Warren groaned and Peter facepalmed. 

“Should have figured,” he muttered. “No sex before marriage, huh? None at all?”

“No.” three weeks in a medbay and one of those comatose had made Kurt skinnier than ever, but with a steady diet of saurcraut and bratwurst and pizza would probably soon take care of that. There was a faint gleam in his eyes and if Jean had been there she might have told the two blonde men that perhaps, perhapt Kurt was just messing with them. Or she would not. 

Warren crossed his arms and glared, wings opening and closing reflexively. Then a thought crossed his mind. 

“If it is that important to you Kurt, then we will of course not press you.” He smiled a half-smile, then leaned over to whisper something in Peter’s ear. Peter’s grin grew huge, he nodded and lowered his goggles. 

The next second there was a huge bouquet of red roses in each of their hands, and a small box with something silvery in. Not gold. They’d all had enough of gold to last a lifetime. 

“Kurt.” They said in unison. “Will you marry us?”

A look of absolute panic crossed Kurt’s face and he bamfed straight up in the ceiling, hanging on with hand- and feet claws, which presented quite an interesting view since he was also just wearing a sickbay robe. 

“Vat?! I’m just nineteen years old!” He wailed in panic as Warren and Peter fell over themselves laughing. 

“Come down, ‘crawler, come down!” Peter waved at him. “We’re just kidding. I got these out of a ten-penny machine!” He tossed the fake ring away. 

“It’s alright, blue.” Warren smiled as Kurt finally let himself down into the bed again, snuggling up next to him while Peter did the same on the opposite side. It was a small bed, but it was big enough. “There are lots of things we can do that’s not sex.”

“Lots of things.” Peter agreed. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

And when they both kissed him on each cheek, Kurt thought it might be.

The End


End file.
